Close Encounters of the Critter Kind 9/14/17

We drove into the Bar Harbor area today, so named because of the sand bar. There’s this island called Bar Island that you can walk to at low tide when the sand bar is exposed. Apparently, everyone in the tri-county area had the same idea. The road was lined with cars – on both sides – as far as the eye could see! And it wasn’t even low tide yet! The houses here are large and beautiful and mostly older, from a time-gone-by era. Nice. But I don’t think I’d want to live here if this goes on! Can’t even imagine what it’s like during peak season!

Oh! And there was a policeman taking pictures through a brush covered fence, looking into someone’s back yard. Wonder what was up with that?? I’m thinking he was collecting evidence for something or other.

So Blaine found our spot – good thing he still has his parallel parking skills – and we walked down to the water. Crazy as it sounds, you’re actually allowed to drive down there. But they don’t recommend parking. Personally, I can’t believe they let you drive. Some of the ground is soft and there were people walking everywhere.

They have these signs up all over town. Pretty cool!

The walk to the bar

Here’s your sign! : )

They had this one at the beginning of the trail.
Note the picture on the bottom . . .
Makes you wonder if these people have the intelligence to be driving, doesn’t it?

Since the bar wasn’t completely uncovered yet, we turned left and walked along the ocean side of some of the houses on the street, discussing which one we liked best.

Even rich people have to renovate once in a while

We liked the brick one too.

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

See the teeny one tucked in there?

If you squint, you can see people crossing the bar.
That’s Bar Island

We also wondered at this large ship docked nearby. We had seen it several times this week from various look-offs we’d been on and assumed it was some kind of cruise ship. Well, it’s not! Blaine discovered an article in a random area tourist paper that said:

It looks like a cruise ship, but the 371-foot Le Grand Bleu belongs to Russian Businessman Eugene Schvidler. One of the top 30 most expensive superyachts on the planet, the imposing ship recently dropped anchor behind Bar Island in Frenchman Bay. Bar Harbor is expecting more than 100 cruise ship visits this fall.

I think it looks black in this picture, but it’s really a nice shade of blue – not navy, not royal. Somewhere in between.

Even though there were tons of people around, it wasn’t really crowded, even on the trail that led to the top of the island. But before we do that, here’s a bit of history of how the entire island became a National Park.

Apparently, the people in town were arguing about whether or not to build a bridge to the island. John Rockefeller, Jr. settled the argument by buying the whole island, donated the land to the Park Service with stipulations that it be open for everyone to enjoy, and didn’t build a bridge. I’ll just bet that made him a popular fellow with a lot of the population. But when you’re that rich, I guess it doesn’t matter what people think. 😊

It was a nice hike to the top and we had to pass more people than usual. We discovered the viewing area to be very small! Blaine had read an article in a park book suggesting that you take a lunch or dinner to the top and enjoy the view. It wasn’t at the right time for us to do that, but once we arrived, we were really glad we didn’t! If people were sitting around eating, there would be no place for people to stand and look!

But we had an exciting time, at any rate! Blaine was taking a picture. I was slightly behind him and to his right. There were others around, but I wasn’t paying attention as I was looking at the view of Bar Harbor’s port. I heard a sound that initially I thought was someone slipping and falling on the sand-covered rock, and then – – – a fawn ran lickety-split, right to left, about a foot in front of Blaine! WOW!!! Too bad it didn’t make the picture! We waited for more, but he must have been the last to cross over. Incredibly fun, but scared the begeezes out of us!

Here’s the picture he was taking when the fawn ran by!

We wandered the streets a bit more before heading to our next trail.

Look at that!
Window display at a pizza place.

The front of the brick house

We did the 1.7 mile loop – Great Head Trail. This goes up at the end of Sand Beach. If we hadn’t wanted to do the trail, we probably never would have visited the beach. It was a nice sandy beach! You don’t see many of those around here. The waves were rolling when we got there, but almost non-existent when we left.

Sand Beach

Beehive Mountain
You can hike up here, but it’s rated very strenuous, so . . . no.

We’ll be up there eventually.
This is Great Head.

Anyway, we headed to the left and it was pretty easy – I was glad I hadn’t dragged my stick along. But coming back after lunch, I could have used it.

We had lunch in another beautiful spot!

Egg Rock Lighthouse

Afterwards, as we were heading back, a squirrel was running along the trail right beside my foot! Scared me at first, just like the fawn! At one point, I stopped to take a picture and Blaine continued on. When I came around the bend, there was Blaine and these people staring at me and smiling. What?? Blaine quietly urged me forward. And there it was! Everyone was staring at an eagle! Closest one yet! He sat there for a long time. Sometimes looking down at us. Sometimes looking around. Sometimes preening. He was more patient than us. We left before he did.

Some great views on the way down.

Just look at that!
Blaine’s a bad influence . . .

That’s me too. Same place.

Blaine’s up there while I’m down below.
Both of us living life on the edge.

Today was the day for Jordon Pond Restaurant. We were planning on getting the popovers that they’re known for. They’ve been making them for the past 100 years! But we saw people eating them and decided we wouldn’t care for them. They’re dough baked in a high-heat oven which makes them hollow, then served with butter and strawberry jam. Nah. However . . . as an alternative, we found a popover sundae! Well, I simply had to try it! It’s one of those things you don’t get anywhere else. Blaine chose warm Blueberry Crisp with homemade vanilla ice cream. My sundae was a split popover filled with homemade peach ice cream and blueberry sauce. Oh! Was it scrumptious! Can’t say the same for the picture Blaine took! Other than the one he deleted, it’s the worst picture I’ve ever seen. Of anyone.